“I am Doctor Benson,” he continued. “I was summoned to Woodhaven Hall to care for you.” His voice was gentle and soothing, but Juliana had been fooled into trusting before, and would certainly not be so again.
“Where are my things?” Was that her voice? It sounded scarcely above a whisper. “I must leave at once.”If I could but move.
The doctor shook his head and gazed at her with pity in his eyes. “I would not recommend that, my dear. You have been abed with the fever for three days, and—”
“Threedays?”But I left the forest only moments ago!Speaking was entirely draining her energy. She laboured for each breath as though she’d been running, and the room began to twirl around her.
“Rest now, Miss Smith.”
The doctor smiled kindly at her, and despite his apparent compassion, a strong urge to flee raced through her veins. But logic won the day: she would not survive a night alone out of doors, and she must recuperate before she continued on to London. Hers was a standing appointment, after all.
Juliana nodded, and allowed the doctor to spoon some foul liquid between her lips. She coughed, but was grateful for the bit of fluid to soothe her parched tongue.
* * *
Leo pushed awayfrom the guest bedchamber’s doorframe, and with a parting nod to the doctor, strode out into the wide corridor.
He wanted to know more about his guest, wanted to learn what had happened to her, what had caused her to become so frightened. And, curse it, he wanted to know what it was about her that made him feel…something. Hell if he knew what it was.
You don’t deserve to know, his conscience whispered at him. Right. There was that.
“Leo.” Percy hurried to match Leo’s pace, their footfalls muffled on the hall’s thick carpet runner. “I’ve had men search all of the roads bordering the estate, and there are no signs of a carriage accident on any of them.”
It was in moments such as these that Leonard genuinely appreciated his friend’s shared history in His Majesty’s Navy—despite its grim beginning on the high seas. Percy was young—five years Leo’s junior at nine-and-twenty—and clever, with a keen sense of duty and loyalty. He was entirely invaluable.
“Then what the devil happened?” Leo asked in an undertone.
Percy shrugged one shoulder as they rounded the corner into another hall. “Hell if I know. But we’ll find out.” He nodded once. “When Miss Smith is sensible again, I’ll make some inquiries. Mayhap someone cleared the accident and hid any evidence.”
“No.” The word was pulled from Leo before he’d had a moment to consider it. His man gave him a raised eyebrow, and Leo gritted his teeth. If the man wasn’t such a good friend and bloody talented employee, he’d have been dismissed years ago for impertinence. “I’d prefer to ask the questions myself, if you don’t mind, Percy. Something is haunting her and, I confess, I’m being drawn into the mystery of it.”
He truly was. It had only been three days, but once he’d had her under the bright candlelight in his home, he’d seen immediately that it wasn’t dirt staining her maid’s uniform—it was blood. And not only could her own wounds not have produced so much blood, but her pockets had been lined with bank notes, jewels, and trinkets, in addition to the pistol. The woman—maid?—had either witnessed or been involved in someone’s injury, and possible death, and had somehow come into a fair sum of money. A carriage accident had been his and Percy’s first assumption, but with no signs along the nearby roads, it was highly unlikely. What did she know? What had shedone?
Leo knew better than to assume anyone’s guilt, so before he summoned the magistrate, he wanted to be absolutely certain of his convictions.
“Of course, sir.” Percy’s voice shook Leo from his reverie.
“Let me know when she is awake and lucid, will you?” Leo ground out, finally reaching his home’s library, where his life felt like it fit back into place. “See that I am undisturbed until then.”
CHAPTER2
London
Her stomach fluttering with nerves,Miss Maria Roberts paced her familial town house’s drawing room. Once-comforting walls of half white-painted wood panelling and half pale-pink paint surrounded her, the furniture delicate but strong and upholstered in a light-green stripe. She couldn’t countenance sitting, however, with worry twisting around inside her.
Carriage wheels had stopped out front only moments before, and she would give her friend time to remove her cloak, bonnet, and gloves. The elaborately carved clock on the white mantel chimed the hour of ten, and Maria’s stomach quivered once more.
At last, the door opened and Miss Heather Morgan entered, her brow puckered over green eyes. “Oh, Maria.” She came forward and pulled Maria into an embrace. “Did you receive Juliana’s letter?”
Maria pulled away and guided Heather to the chaise. “I did. And I’m worried for her. The weather has turned; I fear that her timing is poor.”
“From what Juliana has said, her inducement was clear.” Heather shook her head sadly. “Jasper was forcing her hand; she hadn’t a choice.”
“But to leave at such a time!” Maria’s stomach felt weighted with a stone, and her throat thickened. “It is a standing appointment. Surely she must know that there is no need to rush. Her plan was not thoroughly thought out. And what will happen once her brother learns of it?”
Heather clasped Maria’s hand in both of hers, and gently squeezed. “Juliana understands the risks of what she is doing. Indeed, the outcome would be the same at any time of the year. You are allowing your concern to run away with you.”
Maria shook her head. “You are correct, of course. The result will be the same for us once we have joined, as well.”
